1st Stage - Round 1

This round had a 76 plastered all over it. I was nervous. I hit some very bad shots and failed to get routine chips up and down. I didn't hit the center of the clubface with my driver until the 7th hole. Despite grinding every shot really hard I still thought I would end up with a 76 at day's end. Somehow...I didn't.

Biggest reason for that was a 20 foot putt on #15 (hole #6 because I started on #10) that I made. I was in a bad spot way over the green. My ball was lying on top of the bermuda grass, which meant I couldn't flop it with a sand wedge for fear of going right underneath it. So I chipped a 9-iron into the fringe short. It didn't check up at all and ran to 20 feet. While reading the putt I was telling myself that this round would end up with a 76.

That putt went in for par and then I birdied #7 with a sand wedge to 8 feet.

I already admitted that I was very nervous, but I also had a lot of negative thoughts.

This is a very stressful tournament and every bad break or bad shot is reason to begin doubting yourself. I got some of those bad breaks today and definately hit some of those bad shots. I heard those doubts in my head, but I was able to reassure myself with the idea that I've got a lot of holes left before this tournament is done.

Hopefully my nerves will be less the rest of the week so I can swing and think like I was in the practice rounds. During those rounds I had clear and simple thoughts and rarely had a second thought as to which club to hit.

Thursday is a later tee time - 10:55

Course Avg.

Course Stats

Neil

Holy $h*+

Two words that perfectly describe this golf course. Is this the toughest course I've ever played?

Pinehurst No. 2
Hazeltine
Blackwolf Run - River
Tobacco Road
Desert Mountain - Renegade
PGA West - Norman
East Lake Golf Club
Oak Hill
Congressional
Interlachen

This course has something none of those courses have...7781 yards. Pinehurst No. 2 or East Lake may require more precise shots, but Kinderlou Forest requires a lot of precision with a helluva lot of power.

* 7 of the 10 Par 4's over 445 yards (longest is 501)
* Par 5's - 566, 580, 614, 657
* Par 3's - 191, 195, 216, 240



Head to head I would probably say Pinehurst No. 2 is a more difficult golf course, but this course is by far the longest I've played and I will hit more 4, 3, and 2 irons on this course. It's going to be fun to play this course for 4 rounds in a highly competitive situation. I am very glad to be on this challenging course instead of on a course where shooting par will lose ground on the field.

Q-School - What you need to know

Great story about John Kimbell's continued success on this golf course. I played with John in a Hooter's Tour event last summer. Now he's 35th on the Nationwide Tour money list. With a good finish at this weekend's Nationwide Tour Championship, he'll be on the PGA Tour in 2008.

Hooter's Tour Leaderboard from 2006 - played at Kinderlou Forest
Nationwide Tour Leaderboard from 2007 - played at Kinderlou Forest

Neil

What an Easy Trip to Georgia

I left Minneapolis, MN Wednesday morning and arrived in Valdosta, GA Friday afternoon. It was surprisingly easy. I made a trip of similar distances many times last year and it was always very difficult. I wish I knew what made this trip so much less exhausting. Plenty of things were done differently so maybe it was all of them combined.

1 - I had a different car. I swapped my little Honda Civic for a Pontiac Torrent. This left me with much more space and what seemed to be a much more comfortable seat. I also had a bigger gas tank, which meant fewer refuelling stops.

2 - I stopped in Chicago for one night (something I always did last year), but I also stopped in Atlanta. Instead of travelling all the way to my final destination in day 2 I decided to make a stop. I woke up Friday morning and drove the final 3 hours to Valdosta.

3 - I received several phone calls and text messages from my brother and friends. On the phone while driving is not the safest move, but I'd rather be awake on the phone then drowsy and counting mile markers. Once I get tired my mind wonders into exhaustion.

Whatever the reason, I'm excited to be in Valdosta getting ready for 1st Stage of Q-School. I practiced this afternoon and played 11 holes on the course.

Back to the driving...I might be somewhat biased because I grew up in western Wisconsin, but the prettiest part of my drive was through Wisconsin. Trempealeau, Jackson, Monroe, Juneau, and Sauk counties were all gorgeous sights for leaf peepers. It was like taking a color-blind test throughout the entire state.




Driving through the appalachian mountains I expected some nice views, but it's too early for the foliage.

Illinois and Indiana were the worst. I guess Illinois shouldn't really count because most of my driving through the state was Chicago.

More tomorrow.

Neil